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Lyle Lewis

@race2extinct.bsky.social

2.9K followers 1K following 5.2K posts

My book “Racing To Extinction” analyzes the imminent disappearance of humanity through the lens of my 30+ years as an ecologist with federal environmental agencies in the U.S. https://race2extinct.com

race2extinct.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · Aug 17

Why is humanity headed for disappearance? My book, Racing To Extinction and website race2extinct.com explores our deep-time journey—2.5 million years of evolution leading to the ecological crisis we face today.

A thread on what you’ll find in my work and website 👇

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 56m

Everywhere. The growth mindset is overwhelming the planet……and people are oblivious.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 57m

The only thing that is holy is the dollar.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 3h

The Okavango Delta, Amazon, Everglades—Earth’s last wild strongholds—are all in decline, says the IUCN. It’s not a mystery. As the human footprint grows, the living world shrinks. What little we have left is almost gone.
theconversation.com/natural-worl...

Natural World Heritage sites under growing threat, but bright spots remain

Many of these extraordinary places are increasingly at risk due to escalating climate change, invasive species, and and a lack of consistent funding to protect them.

theconversation.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 3h

😊

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 4h

Since the Endangered Species Act became law, ~1.36 million species have gone extinct.

It’s funny how easily we speak of humanity’s “salvation” while driving every other form of life off the planet.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 5h

I’m hoping you live a long and healthy life. There are others, however, ……..

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 5h

I know. People don’t understand the kinds of trophic cascades being precipitated by scenarios like this.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 9h

Everything is so out of whack, it’s a chaos nightmare.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 9h

That’s the part people don’t get……the butterfly effect.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 9h

Adaptability keeps species alive….until there’s nowhere left to adapt to. Desert lions turned to the sea to survive, but as oceans empty, that refuge will fade. Flexibility means nothing without biodiversity.
www.bbc.com/future/artic...

'Their resilience is a lesson to us all': The maritime lions hunting seals on the beach

In Namibia, a group of desert lions have left their traditional hunting grounds for the Atlantic coast and are now thriving as the world's only maritime lions.

www.bbc.com

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 17h

Greentech ReImagined. Climate denial, but make it boutique.

Screenshot of the X account “Greentech ReImagined” showing that the user has blocked the viewer — apparently reimagining conversation by removing it.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 21h

Rights of nature sound noble. But when the patient is already in hospice, rights are nothing more than ritual.
insideclimatenews.org/news/0510202...

The Scientists Making the Case for Nature’s Rights - Inside Climate News

A growing number of scientists are backing laws recognizing that nature has inherent rights and intrinsic value. A group of wetlands scientists wants the critical ecosystems they study to be next.

insideclimatenews.org

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Where insanity has been normalized.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Humanity is doing better than ever — by strip-mining the future to fund the present.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

It’s baked in by 10k years of monotheistic religions that came about as a result of agriculture.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Humans aren’t smart enough to know the difference between effective, silly, and dangerous.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe crushed rock will pull carbon from the air. Maybe it’ll poison the soil, the lungs, or both. Desperation is being cloaked as “climate innovation.” Hubris and haste are starting to rhyme.
apple.news/AWjmsKkjcQ3-...

Scientists seek to turbocharge a natural process that cools the Earth — The Washington Post

Terradot, a carbon removal company, is using “enhanced rock weathering” to sequester carbon by spreading crushed volcanic rock over farmland.

apple.news

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Extinction isn’t a gamble. It’s a sure thing.

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Green turtles—a small rebound after decades on the brink.
Wins are needles in a haystack—and we cheer crumbs like feasts. Our shifting baseline has made environmentalists beggars.
www.bbc.com/news/article...

Green turtle bounces back from brink in conservation 'win'

Once endangered due to hunting, it is making a strong recovery thanks to global conservation efforts.

www.bbc.com

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

Evan Frost @wildwoods.bsky.social · Sep 1

"In this book, avian ecologist and former PBS Birdwatch host Richard Hutto challenges conventional wisdom by revealing the hidden beauty and ecological importance of severely burned forests." 🌏https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-03180-8

A Beautifully Burned Forest

This book challenges conventional wisdom by revealing the hidden beauty and ecological necessity of severely burned forests

link.springer.com

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

lights out for migrating birds @lightsoutforbirds.bsky.social · 1d

“persecution of porcupines took place in the last century when they were clubbed to death, poisoned & trapped. Basically, it was a war on porcupines, because of this reputation they have as tree damagers..not popular with the timber industry, orchardists, or dog owners” www.opb.org/article/2024...

HIGH DESERT MUSEUM
High Desert Museum
Reels • May 9 •
Have you seen a porcupine in the wild? The second-largest rodent in the United States, a po...
Have you seen a porcupine in the wild? The second-largest rodent in the United State... See more
Quill you help find my friends in the wild?
WANTED ALIVE:
PORCUPINES

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

A GOP bill would gut the Marine Mammal Protection Act—weakening safeguards for whales already on the brink.
We’re the kids in the marshmallow experiment: take the short-term gain, lose the future.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/wir...

Republicans try to weaken 50-year-old law protecting whales, seals and polar bears

One of the U.S.’s longest standing pieces of environmental legislation, credited with helping save rare whales from extinction, is the subject of an effort for cutbacks from Republican lawmakers who n...

abcnews.go.com

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Reposted by Lyle Lewis

lights out for migrating birds @lightsoutforbirds.bsky.social · 2d

sage grouse's population declines are mostly being caused by degradation of sagebrush habitat. there are more perches for raptors, fences, transmission lines, roads-but also energy & livestock industries have done everything in their power to keep them from being listed endangered

inko @inkobell
i didnt even know people were allowed to hunt them.... literally i can't fathom that at all
The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is North America's largest grouse, known for its elaborate mating displays and sagebrush habitat.
Appearance: Thes... Colorado Parks and Wil..., +4 more
Conservation status
Near Threatened
Population decreasing
Encyclopedia of Life
Mass
4.4 - 6.6 lbs (Male, Adult), 2.2 - 4.4 Ibs (Female, Adult)
ATTENTION SAGE GROUSE HUNTERS
DEPOSIT WINGS HERE na avada Division of Witatite in cor
population. Sex and age
a long term sude of he andera sage ord
ATTENTIO SAGE GROUSE HUNTE DEPOSIT WINGS HE
The Nevada De study of the state

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Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Ken is blind to anything that might interfere with worshipping his religion—consumerism.

Lyle Lewis @race2extinct.bsky.social · 1d

Copious cherry-picking, too!